On this day, English football witnessed one of the harshest penalties ever handed down to a professional club. Leeds City FC was kicked out of the Football League right in the middle of the season over illegal financial payments made to players during World War I.
During the war, official league competitions were suspended, and teams played in regional guest tournaments. Rules strictly banned clubs from paying guest players, but many teams secretly broke this rule to attract the best talent.
After the war ended, a former player reported Leeds City to football officials, revealing that the club had made illegal cash payments behind closed doors.
When authorities opened an investigation, the club’s management refused to cooperate or show their financial records.
That stubborn refusal made the situation far worse. Instead of just issuing a fine, the Football League decided to make an example of Leeds City. They expelled the club immediately and ordered it to close down completely.
What followed next was a complete spectacle.
A few days after the expulsion, officials gathered at the Metropole Hotel in Leeds to sell off the entire squad. Five days after the club was shut down, all 16 players on the team were put up for auction in a hotel room, selling to rival clubs for a total of over £9,000.
On top of that, five club directors along with manager Herbert Chapman received lifetime bans from football.
Chapman later appealed his ban successfully, proving he had no personal involvement in the secret accounting, and he went on to become one of the greatest managers in English football history.
Meanwhile, fans in Leeds quickly pooled their money together to start a brand new team from scratch, creating Leeds United just a few weeks after the old club was destroyed.
